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Milwaukee M18 Planer

This is Milwaukee Tools first planer and funny enough its cordless. They have now entered the woodworking market. Milwaukee Tool has re entered the trade specific tool market with specific plumbing tools and electrical tools and now woodworking.

First off it has a great feel, having that Milwaukee Tool bigger grip is always welcoming to my hand. It has rubber on the top and bottom of the grip to help make sure the tool does not have any movement it your hands while running. The safety switch is well thought out, it’s nice and close to the trigger to engage easily and is on both sides for easy use for both hands.

One huge feature is the directional chip ejection switch, so you can flick the switch and have the material come out either side. They also made a nice size hole where the chips come out, it fits most extractor hoses or can fit an adapter very easily.

The planer has tons of power, being a remodeler and doing insurance repairs we are always planing stuff down. I’ve used it on all types of wood since we’ve had it and as long as the blades are sharp I haven’t had any problems or messed up materials.

Its planes material up to 3 1/4 wide and also comes with a handy fence to help make precision planes when they are needed. The fence can be attached to either side.

On the front is a dial for adjusting your depths. It has 20 different settings all the way from 0 to 5/64. It clicks when the depth is changed, confirming that it set into the depth you’ve chosen. The motor delivers 14,000 Rpm and sports 2 Carbide blades. One thing to remember is these blades are dual, meaning both sides have a blade and can be reversed when one side is dull or chipped. It also has an allen key attached to the side of the hand to make blade changes more convenient.

Another great feature is the spring-loaded kickstand on the bottom. It’s nice to be able to lock the kickstand up for planing smaller materials. On other brands I’ve had the kickstand gets in the way which was another thing to worry about when your focus should be on the tool and the material.

So all in all Milwaukee has done a great job with this planer. It has great runtime and a great feel. We’ve used it tons and have never had a problem. The one thing that took some getting used to was the handle, it’s a bit taller than the brand we had prior to this. Another downfall is that it came in a bag. I find tools get roughed up in bags and are hard to stack and store. If you’re looking to get rid of the cord and moving to a cordless planer, the Milwaukee M18 planer is definitely one to consider.